Mumbai: In the Vasai-Virar land scam, the special court for the Prevention of the Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on Thursday, remanded four accused, including former commissioner of Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) Anil Pawar and deputy director town planning YS Reddy, to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till August 20. They were arrested by the ED over money laundering allegations in connection with their alleged role in construction of 41 illegal buildings in VVCMC jurisdiction.
ED Nabs Ex-Commissioner, Three Others
On Wednesday evening, the ED had arrested Pawar and Reddy, along with Sitaram Gupta, former corporator of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) party, and his nephew Arun Gupta. The four were produced before the special court on Thursday morning, wherein ED prosecutor Kavita Patil sought their custody for 10 days. The plea was objected to by their respective lawyers. The court however, remanded the four to ED custody till August 20.
The ED has claimed that there existed a cartel of officials of VVCMC, who received bribes for turning blind eye towards illegal construction. The agency claimed that Pawar flourished the already existing cartel comprising senior VVCMC officers, local builders and liaison persons for turning a blind eye and taking no action over rampant illegal constructions at fixed commission/bribe amount. The agency claimed that the fixed rate was Rs150 per sq ft, out of which Rs50 per sq ft was for Pawar and the rest was for others.
It is alleged that Pawar has floated many firms in the name of his wife, daughter and other relatives, which are engaged in construction of residential projects. Pawar is also accused of taking cashfrom Reddy, which was collected by a relative and invested in properties across the state. Pawar allegedly bought luxury expensive sarees, pearls, gold and diamond studded jewellery through Reddy and the settlement was in cash. ED has alleged that in various searches carried out at different premises at Reddy’s house in May and June, ED has seized cash worth Rs8.23 crores, and diamond jewellery worth Rs23.25 crore, for which he had no explanation.
The ED contended that Sitaram and Arun began construction of buildings illegally without obtaining construction permits from 2013 to 2021. The ED alleged that they acquired 30 acres of land from private owners and an additional 30 acres reserved for government projects including a dumping ground and a sewage treatment plant (STP). They allegedly sold the land to various builders using fake ownership documents.
ED claimed that investigation revealed that in 2007, the brothers encroached upon land and illegally constructed chawls without the permission of government and thereafter sold them to the public. However, they were demolished in 2007-08 after a complaint.
HC-Ordered Demolition Failed to Stop Scam
In 2009-11, after VVCMC replaced CIDCO, they constructed 168 buildings and 74 chawls on approximately 60 acres of land at Achole, out of which 30 acres was on government land. These buildings were also demolished on the order of Bombay High Court. Later, the land was sold to private builders from 2013-2021, on which 41 buildings were constructed with the connivance of officials of VVCMC.
The ED investigation had revealed that uncle and nephew had created dummy local builders in whose name illegal buildings were constructed. He had used dummy owners and shellbuilder firms, often registered in the name of his drivers, rickshaw pullers or employees, to shield themselves.
The ED alleged that on July 29, when ED officials went to search Pawar’s house at 6.15am, no one opened the door, even though the family was inside. Besides, when officials called Pawar and his wife Bharati, their attempts failed as they received no response and subsequently the phone was switched off.
However, after waiting for two hours outside the house, the ED officials, with the help of the local police, called the locksmith to open the door at around 8.35am. After entering the house, when officials checked Pawar’s phone, it is alleged that he had deleted all logs and WhatsApp data.
The ED also alleged Pawar and Reddy had an intricate code system to collect commission and bribe. As per the statement of Reddy recorded by the ED on August 7, the commission was paid at the rate of Rs150 per sq ft of the area to be constructed.
Analysing the code system Pawar and Reddy shared, the ED said the word ‘D’ was used for Reddy himself. Word ‘C’ was for Pawar, who held the post of Commissioner. As per statements of architects and builders, the accused spoke in terms of square feet of the area for which the permission was required.
